Dear Students, Families, Colleagues and Friends

Welcome to the last issue of Term 3 newsletter series.

We end this term with some amazing positive experiences and successes under our belts:

• Our students are wonderful and we are so proud of you all! You inspire each and every one of us – the adults – to learn more, do more and be better – thank you!
• Our team of staff is more passionate and determined than ever before to deliver the best education and support to the students – I could not wish for a better group of professionals – thank you for your hard work!
• Our curriculum developments are progressing well and we have now actioned fully Ofsted’s recommendation for diversifying our accredited learning offer (see communication to families later today for detail) – big shout out to Mrs Tobin, Mr Lyons and Mr Mason!
• Our Supported Internships are growing and we are so pleased with our students’ increased interest in this pathway – what a great impact Mr Fernyhough
• Our Head Boy, Head Girl, Deputy Head Boy and Deputy Head Girl have finalised their planned projects for this year and will be launching some really exceptional events in the coming weeks! – I was so proud of your presentation to, and discussion with, the Governors!
• Our Governing Body welcomed a new Parent Governor to the team – we are so pleased to have you onboard, Mr Marnell!
• Our facilities are going from strength to strength and we cannot wait to progress the planned projects during the half term and then again Easter break and the summer – to make our learning environment even better! Huge thanks to Mr Westall and the entire Facilities Team!

All in all, despite many challenges we face each day, we have had one of the most positive, successful and constructive terms ever – and I am proud of the progress we have made a team of professionals in every aspect of our work.

Now, with the half term break ahead of us, I thank you all for everything that you do and I wish you a happy, healthy and restful week ahead.

With kindest regards

Mrs A Hildrey
Headteacher

Dear Students, Families, Colleagues and Friends

Welcome to today’s issue of the Head’s Weekly Newsletter – a penultimate edition of this term.

Week 22 has been amazing as we celebrated National Apprenticeship Week, all students learnt about this work-based learning qualification that allows one to study, work and build a career, whilst also earning a salary.

Many of our staff have gained an Apprenticeship before joining Abbot’s Lea School, some are currently employed in those trainee-roles, and we also have students for whom it’s a perfect solution in their future education, employment and training. Huge thanks to Mr Fernyhough, our Employability Manager for leading this week’s activities and all those who supported.

Today we received a publication of the LCC SEND Sufficiency Strategy proposals, which will be consulted on during March-May period. You can find the consultation document now on our website, showing an extract related to special schools:
LINK

As all special schools in Liverpool continue to be oversubscribed, with the trend continuing, we agree that this is a really important issue for the LCC to resolve.

We will continue advocating for our own Abbot’s Lea School students, families and staff to ensure that we are not left behind in any capital investment into the teaching, learning and specialist support facilities in the coming years. I will attend next week’s Cabinet meeting and will keep you all fully appraised of any related developments as the consultation begins.

Until then, we continue doing what we do best: focusing on our students and their amazing talents!

I wish you all a very restful and enjoyable weekend and I look forward to next week (we finish on Friday at 3pm)

With kindest regards

Mrs A Hildrey
Headteacher

Dear Students, Families, Colleagues and Friends,

Thank you for your hard work and congratulations on your successes this week.

I want to thank all of the families who took the time to share with us their view related to our communication and news-sharing approaches. I have now collated all of your suggestions and will reflect on the best way to improve further over the coming days. Whilst the views received are really valuable already, we only had 26 responses and so, I am keen to keep the survey open for a bit longer so that we attract more families to express their ideas. Please find the link here: https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/ASL-families-survey/

With only two weeks to go until the end of this term, our efforts have been firmly on sharing updates related to our planned enhanced Accredited Learning options, as well as supporting our most senior students with Transition planning. Huge thanks to all those who contributed and the students and families who attended our information sessions. Recordings will be made available on our website shortly and any questions related to curriculum or transition should be sent to feedback@abbotsleaschool.co.uk – we will always answer any questions raised and help, where needed.

Lastly, I want to thank those families who reached out to me with compliments or concerns – my door is always open and so, I warmly encourage you to contact me if I can be of any assistance.

I wish you all a very good weekend

With warmest wishes,
Mrs A Hildrey
Headteacher

Dear Students, Families, Colleagues and Friends,

Welcome to today’s issue of the Head’s Weekly Newsletter.

It has been another busy and positive week at Abbot’s Lea School with superb learning opportunities in every class, key stage and department and a number of professional activities for the staff team, too.

I hope you enjoy reading our class updates and I also encourage you to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to keep a close eye on the life of our school and any events we plan to hold for the families in the coming months.

As team, we are working hard to address two issues arising from the recent Ofsted inspection:

• Expansion of the accredited learning offer in Key Stage 4 and 5, and
• Team cohesion

I am pleased to share with you our plans for the enhanced accredited learning being rolled out to our KS4 and KS5 students this summer: see letter sent to the KS4 and KS5 families for more detail: http://www.abbotsleaschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Accredited-Learning-Update-17.1.2022.pdf. Once we have trialed and evaluated this new model, in Term 6, I will update you about the plans for next year.

Our professional dialogue as a team is also at the forefront of my work this term. Any past unresolved issued that had impacted on our team work are being resolved at pace and I know that I speak on behalf of the entire body of Abbot’s Lea School professionals when I reassure you that we are all 100% committed to, and focused on, our students, with nothing detracting from that focus at present.

Coincidentally, this week saw two other “inspections” of Abbot’s Lea School:

• National Autistic Society (NAS) inspection visit – focused on our Positive Behaviour Support policy and practice, and
• Investors In People (IIP) visit – focused on staff’ engagement and communication.

Both visits praised our work and progress and each made recommendations for what we can do even better in the future. As a learning organisation, we will do just that: listen, reflect, consider and, if the recommendations will be agreed as a good way forward, act to make things even better!

As always, my door is open and if you would like to find out more about our work, support any of the projects or share your views, please contact me directly via: feedback@abbotsleaschool.co.uk

With the best wishes for the weekend ahead,

Mrs A Hildrey
Headteacher

Dear Students, Families, Colleagues and Friends

Welcome to the penultimate issue of the Head’s Weekly Newsletter for this calendar year!

We had a big week of Christmas celebrations here at Abbot’s Lea School and I want to thank every member of my team for the hard work put in ahead of, during and after, the activities – we really did make it special!

We experienced:

• Christmas Talent Show (Secondary Department)
• Christmas Activity Day
• Christmas Nativity Play (Primary Department)
• Christmas Lunch
• Christmas Drumming
• Christmas Theatre trip.

Simply fantastic!!!

Next week is a short one, with the following plans:

• Monday: Christmas Party (a non-uniform day for all students)
• Tuesday: Christmas Movie and Festive Breakfast and Quiz morning (a non-uniform day for all students)

Students finish early on Tuesday, 21 December 2021 at 1pm – please may I ask that you ensure that your child is collected at that time, as it makes them very sad to be left behind…

The staff will then also finish work, and the school will remain closed until we return on 5 January 2022. I thank you all in advance for ensuring that all enquiries wait until that time, to allow my staff team their well-deserved break. Thank you!

With kindest wishes for a restful weekend,

Mrs A Hildrey
Headteacher

Dear Students, Families, Colleagues and Friends

Welcome to today’s issue of the newsletter, culminating our 14^th week of the school year.

I was so proud of our students this week and took particular joy in several student-related events and achievements:

• I had completed the appointment of Kieran and Caitlin as my Head Boy and Girl and Lewis and Megan as Deputy Head Boy and Girl in today’s assembly. Congratulations! I look forward to working with this fantastic group of young leaders in the coming weeks!
• Margaret Bryce Scholarship winners this year were: Hamza, Louis, Elliot, Jamie, Paul, Caitlin, Kyle and Kieran. Each of the students entered into this year’s scholarship race titled “The Spectrum Of Me” and their entries were truly inspiring – more on that next week!
• A group of six students from KS4 and KS5 attended a Governing Body meeting to share their “lived experiences” of being students at ALS. One governor commented: “All six students were incredibly impressive, from the consideration they gave to the information they shared with us, to the way they interacted with one another during our question and answer session.”, whilst another said: “I would like to add my thanks to the students who were totally impressive, frank and refreshing to speak to. I felt I was given a very clear and balanced view of their experience at Abbot’s Lea School and were also maturely thinking of their next best steps for when they leave.”

These are just a few highlights of a busy, meaningful and truly rich experiences our students access – I thank every single one of them for grabbing these opportunities with both hands and making the best of each such occasion! Well done!

I wish you all a restful weekend and look forward to seeing you all next week for the last full week of Term 2 (we finish on Tuesday, 21 December 2021 at 1pm).

Kind regards

Mrs A Hildrey
Hadteacher

Dear Students, Families, Colleagues and Friends

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here at Abbot’s Lea School!

With only 20 and a half days of school to go until the break (a gentle reminder that we finish on Tuesday, 21 December at 1pm), we are getting into the festive mood and spirit!

The decorations are beginning to adorn our school and we have some amazing events planned for the coming weeks, including:

• Christmas Jumper or Accessory Day
• Christmas Talent Show
• Christmas Lunch
• Christmas Nativity
• Christmas Theatre Trip
• Christmas Party
• Christmas Movie Day!

It will be lovely, I am sure – for more details, please see Mrs Tobin’s article here.

Whilst for most, Christmas is the time of joy, this is not the case for all. Anyone who struggles – in any way at all – is not alone. We are here for you. Please feel free to contact us or any of external organisations (details of those are HERE)

I wish you all a very restful weekend – stay safe, keep warm and I look forward to seeing you all next week for Week 13!

Kind regards
Mrs A Hildrey
Headteacher

Dear Students, Families and Colleagues

Thank you for your hard work this week and congratulations on your successes!

With only 21 days to go until Christmas break, every day counts in making learning exciting and in opening new opportunities for our students. So many of them inspired me this week!

That said, it has also been a very complex and difficult week for us as a school. We have been experiencing unprecedented levels of staff’ sickness and it has felt, at times, like a very precarious operation to manage and sustain. With the shortages of agency staff, there were days when we had to lower the cognitive load and challenge placed on our students, merge classes, change timetable and be very creative with regards to lesson and enrichment activities. Let’s hope that next week is a return to a more stable reality!

I therefore wish all of my students and staff who are unwell a speedy recovery and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday!

My highlight will be the Head Boy and Head Girl selection process – please remember to send your application directly to me on: headteacher@abbotsleaschool.co.uk by Monday!

Happy weekend!

Dear Students, Families, Colleagues and Friends,

Welcome to today’s newsletter.

I thank you all for your exceptional work this week.

Our students have work very diligently and have excelled in their efforts and learning led in an inspiring way by the team of expert staff.

It was clear to see just how transformative the power of education is when our students paused and, with full respect, observed a moment of silence yesterday to mark the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

I am immensely proud of their conduct and behaviour and they are truly the role models for the future generations.

I wish them – and you all – a very restful weekend ahead and look forward to seeing you next week.

With the kindest regards,

Mrs A Hildrey
Headteacher

Dear Students, Families, Colleagues and Friends

Welcome to Term 2!

I hope you all had a good and restful half term break and are re-starting this next chapter of learning, open to new opportunities that lay ahead.

As you know, we started this week by welcoming Ofsted inspectors to our school.

I want to thank you all for taking part in this important process.

The inspectors considered all of the evidence fully and have reached their judgment. Whilst the official outcome of the inspection cannot yet be shared due to the confidentiality clause, I do have the authority to share with you the most crucial information of all:

The inspectors were unanimous that the safeguarding at our school is effective and that the students like it here and learn and progress well.

They also endorsed the priorities identified by leaders in our current School Development Plan, making further recommendations for ongoing improvements.

Once the report is published by Ofsted, we will share it with you together with the “even better if” actions.

May I please reiterate my personal thanks to each and every one of you for your ongoing support for our school.

Have a good weekend and stay safe if joining any Bonfire Night events.

With warm wishes and kind regards

Mrs A Hildrey
Headteacher

Dear Students, Colleagues, Families and Friends

We got here!!! Eight weeks of hard work – a mammoth of a term! – has now come to an end and I want to thank you all for your hard work!

I am really proud of our school. Whilst every school can, and should, always improve (and we are no different), I reflect on this term’s development of our practice, such as:

• Our curriculum is exceptionally well planned and sequenced and we know that, no matter what the child’s current learning point, we know what is coming next and why, to stretch their knowledge and skills to help them learn even more!
• Our provision is demonstrating brilliant examples of our implementation of academic studies, specialist support and development of life skills – our students’ holistic educational programmes lead to real successes are seen across the whole school.
• Impact is clear to see: from early years, key stage 1, key stage 2, key stage 3, key stage 4, key stage 5 and nurture provision students – we are seeing improvements over-time in attendance, engagement, learning and progress. Congratulations to our students and thanks to everyone who helped them feel worthy, confident, able and successful.

The overall effectiveness has been helped by three long term objectives of my vision launched in 2016/17 school year:

• Establish and embed a truly integrated multi-disciplinary team approach, with in-house specialists who work in united partnership with class-based staff on understanding and meeting the needs of all of our students
• Establish and embed an effective research and development function which drives advocacy and progress for the young people with Autism by creating projects that act as a vehicle for positive change in the field of Autism
• Improve all school facilities and create new spaces that meet the needs of our students – indoors and outdoors – so that we make the most of our site (whatever its limitations!) – we are uncompromising about the need to continually improve all of our school environment.

As we end this term, I thank you all for your hard work, support, encouragement and challenge. I wish you all a very restful October holiday and I look forward to seeing you all on Monday, 1 November 2021 for Term 2!

Happy holidays!

Mrs A Hildrey
Headteacher

Dear Students, Families and Colleagues

Welcome to the penultimate issue of the Head’s Weekly Newsletter for Term 1!

Huge thanks to everyone for this week’s work – what a brilliant team effort this week.

Sadly, we continue to be negatively affected by the Covid-19 and seasonal sickness and so, I wish all of our students and staff who are unwell at present a speedy recovery. I thank all those “still standing” for being so very flexible and hard-working – much appreciated!

Hopefully next week – week 8 of this year – will prove healthier.

Despite some of the above-mentioned challenges, the week was simply awesome! We read, wrote, counted, explored, experimented, cooked, travelled, exercised and reflected. We also talked – rather a lot. Some of the conversations, for some of the students, were their “firsts” and so, I celebrate here the first words said (ever) or first words ever said at school, or to (relative) strangers…. Others’ debates were fast, passionate, at times maybe furious – but, at all times, developmental, educational, mind-opening and perspective-changing. Such is the task of Education.

I, too, reflected on my own learning this week; there was plenty of it, believe me. I conclude this week by reminding myself that our life is a matrix of choices – some small, others significant and often life-changing.

Fundamentally, each time I made a choice at work this week, I remained very mindful of key guiding principles: What is the true issue I am trying to address? What do I want the outcome to be? What is the best choice here? Is this the morally/ethically right thing to do? What makes it so? What are the alternatives? What if I do nothing? What are the unintended consequences of my decision?

At times this week, the number of decisions that needed to be made – and most within minutes – felt overwhelming.

To remain focused, balanced, and quite frankly, well, one of the choices we all make in our line of work is: which aspects of today’s work am I going to allow to permeate into my life, and which parts must I leave behind, creating clear boundaries that not only protect me as a person, but also allow me to re-charge my batteries so that I have more “capacity to give” to my job tomorrow.

I know this is not just my reflection as a Headteacher, but one we all share in our busy lives.

With that in mind, I wish you all a happy,  restful and relaxing weekend and look forward to seeing you all next week for the last week of Term 1.

Kind regards

Mrs A Hildrey
Headteacher

Dear Students, Families and Colleagues

Welcome to this issue of the Head’s Weekly Newsletter!

I want to start by thanking all of my staff for their exceptional work this week – we all pulled together in one direction towards the shared vision and, despite the many challenges associated with Covid and other seasonal illness striking our community, we pulled through so impressively – thank you!

I also congratulate all of our students on their efforts and achievements over the past four weeks of learning. We have tonnes of talent in our student group this year and I am very impressed with ideas, inquiries, innovative proposals and critique, too. A truly inspiring young people indeed!

I wish to highlight one such young man today; his name is Jack and he is a student in our Canada Class. Jack was inspired by Zen Gardens seen in a popular genre of books and stories he engages with and, having explored our school site, he approached me with a proposal to transform yet another hidden corner of our grounds. I met with Jack this morning and listened to his ideas – all of which were not just sound, but also grounded in his deeply analytical appraisal of facilities available to the students. He spotted a unique opportunity to create a place which is the opposite of activity or play – a place of contemplation, calm reflection and…..sweet nothingness: a Zen Garden. We worked out an action plan, timescales and next steps and I cannot wait to meet Jack again in the first week of Term 2 to see his revised and costed proposals. I have a feeling he might be onto a winner! Great thinking and work, Jack!

I wish you all a restful weekend and I look forward to seeing you all next week.

Kind regards

Mrs A Hildrey
Headteacher

SEND Transport provision challenges and potential solutions

I wrote to all families this week sharing current pressures on the LCC SEND Transport and local taxi provisions, with an encouragement to see more families consider Personal Travel Budgets that would help with the transporting of students to school. Please see my letter here and contact sen.transport@liverpool.gov.uk if you are able to support this important transport sufficiency solution.

SEND Strategy Consultation

You are encouraged to get involved and have your say in the ongoing SEND Strategy consultation which will remain open until 15 October 2021:

https://smartsurvey.co.uk/s/SENDsufficiency

Key Diary Dates – Term 1 (1 September – 22 October 2021)

We write to you earlier this week about the planned events which will be taking place in school during this term.

Whilst the letter encapsulated all of the activities planned as of the time of writing to you, it may be that more fantastic opportunities, such as enrichment events and educational visits are planned moving forward. When this happens we will ensure that we inform families affected at the first opportunity.

Assessments taking place this term (for those students ready and able to access them):

• Phonics Level/ Reading Age (dependant on level of the learner): by 8 October 2021
• Maths Assessments: by 8 October 2021
• Pupils attitudes to self and school: by 8 October 2021

Awareness days marked in classrooms:

• ADHD Awareness Month: October 2021
• World Dyslexia Day: 4 October 2021
• National Poetry Day: 7 October 2021
• World Mental Health Day: 11 October 2021
• World Food Day: 15 October 2021

Family Consultation Week

• W/c 11 October 2021

A member of your child’s class team will arrange a mutually convenient time to contact you by telephone during this week to discuss your child’s progress so far. They will be able to share the details of any assessment results, evaluate My Plan © targets and to jointly set new priorities for your child’s holistic education in Term 2.

If you have any questions about the key diary dates, please contact Mrs Tobin, Deputy Headteacher on deputy@abbotsleaschool.co.uk

October holidays

This is a reminder that the last day of Term 1 is Friday, 22 October 2021, with the normal finish time of 3pm.

We then all return to school on Monday, 1 November 2021 at the usual 9am start.

Dear Students, Families and Colleagues

Welcome to this issue of the Head’s Weekly Newsletter!

The autumn is here and with it a realisation that the summer holidays are a distant memory and the shops are re-focusing their sales onto Halloween and even, in the case of some outlets, on Christmas decorations! Time flies, doesn’t it?

The same applies to the life of the school, in many ways and we are seeing some events typical of this time of the year – having grouped students in what we believed were most compatible peer cohorts, we are learning that some may, whilst others might not be. We are also welcome new students whose admissions were being finalised in the first weeks of this term, as a result of similar movements in other organisations. Lastly, we are, inevitably, also experiencing staff prepare to make moves to their new roles – secured either just before, or during the summer break. I want to thank our colleagues leaving us this week for their service to the school and wish them all the very best for the future – I hope our paths cross again!

Whilst change described above is a normal part of a school like, none of us could predict the level of disruption to the transport provision in the city (and the country, as a whole). I am aware of the fact that many of our students have been subjected to transport disruptions and I want to assure you that we are working with the Local Authority on making things better, but there are very few solutions to the shortage of drivers and taxis. I thank every family for their support in transporting your child to school and I extend my thanks to my own team who have stepped in on many occasions when all else failed.

I wish you all a restful weekend and I look forward to seeing you all next week.

Kind regards

Mrs A Hildrey
Headteacher

SEND Strategy Consultation

You are encouraged to get involved and have your say in the ongoing SEND Strategy consultation which will remain open until 15 October 2021:

https://smartsurvey.co.uk/s/SENDsufficiency

Our Governing Body met yesterday, on Thursday, 23 September 2021 for an extraordinary meeting, to consider the proposals and to put forward our views and representation. Please find my letter summarising our collective stance.

Key Diary Dates – Term 1 (1 September – 22 October 2021)

We write to you earlier this week about the planned events which will be taking place in school during this term.

Whilst the letter encapsulated all of the activities planned as of the time of writing to you, it may be that more fantastic opportunities, such as enrichment events and educational visits are planned moving forward. When this happens we will ensure that we inform families affected at the first opportunity.

Assessments taking place this term (for those students ready and able to access them):

• Visual Stress screener (where relevant): by 24 September 2021
• Phonics Level/ Reading Age (dependant on level of the learner): by 8 October 2021
• Maths Assessments: by 8 October 2021
• Pupils attitudes to self and school: by 8 October 2021

Awareness days marked in classrooms:

• Roald Dahl Day: 13 September 2021
• Recycling Week: 20-24 September 2021
• National Fitness Day: 22 September 2021
• European Day of Languages: 27 September 2021
• ADHD Awareness Month: October 2021
• World Dyslexia Day: 4 October 2021
• National Poetry Day: 7 October 2021
• World Mental Health Day: 11 October 2021
• World Food Day: 15 October 2021

Student Leadership opportunities:

• Key Stage 4 and 5 Buddies application opens: w/c 13 September 2021
• Student Council applications open: 17 September 2021

Family Consultation Week

• W/c 11 October 2021

A member of your child’s class team will arrange a mutually convenient time to contact you by telephone during this week to discuss your child’s progress so far. They will be able to share the details of any assessment results, evaluate My Plan © targets and to jointly set new priorities for your child’s holistic education in Term 2.

If you have any questions about the key diary dates, please contact Mrs Tobin, Deputy Headteacher on deputy@abbotsleaschool.co.uk

Our weekly assemblies

Our assemblies are now taking place each Friday, in our school’s main hall, at the following times:

• 10 – 9.30 – KS5
• 35 – 9.55 – Primary and Nurture Provision
• 05 – 10.25 – KS3 and Nurture Provision
• 35 – 10.55 – KS4 and Nurture Provision

This not only allows for a greater relevance of the teaching input, promotes interaction during this learning session but also helps with the Covid-19 measures of greater social distancing in the hall.

Today’s inaugural sessions were fantastic and addressed literacy discussions inspired by Roald Dahl, whose special celebration day we embraced earlier this week.

I was also particularly pleased about today’s launch of the Student Council applications – I hope that many students will consider this fantastic leadership opportunity!

Assemblies continue to be closed events for now, but I look forward to opening them to families as soon as possible.

SEND Strategy Consultation

You are encouraged to get involved and have your say in the ongoing SEND Strategy consultation which will remain open until 15 October 2021:

https://smartsurvey.co.uk/s/SENDsufficiency

Our Governing Body will meet next Thursday, 23 September 2021 for an extraordinary meeting, to consider the proposals and to put forward our views and representation.

I will, as usual, share with you our leadership stance in due course.

Key Diary Dates – Term 1 (1 September – 22 October 2021)

We write to you earlier this week about the planned events which will be taking place in school during this term.

Whilst the letter encapsulated all of the activities planned as of the time of writing to you, it may be that more fantastic opportunities, such as enrichment events and educational visits are planned moving forward. When this happens we will ensure that we inform families affected at the first opportunity.

Assessments taking place this term (for those students ready and able to access them):

• Visual Stress screener (where relevant): by 24 September 2021
• Phonics Level/ Reading Age (dependant on level of the learner): by 8 October 2021
• Maths Assessments: by 8 October 2021
• Pupils attitudes to self and school: by 8 October 2021

Awareness days marked in classrooms:

• Roald Dahl Day: 13 September 2021
• Recycling Week: 20-24 September 2021
• National Fitness Day: 22 September 2021
• European Day of Languages: 27 September 2021
• ADHD Awareness Month: October 2021
• World Dyslexia Day: 4 October 2021
• National Poetry Day: 7 October 2021
• World Mental Health Day: 11 October 2021
• World Food Day: 15 October 2021

Student Leadership opportunities:

• Key Stage 4 and 5 Buddies application opens: w/c 13 September 2021
• Student Council applications open: 17 September 2021

Family Consultation Week

• W/c 11 October 2021

A member of your child’s class team will arrange a mutually convenient time to contact you by telephone during this week to discuss your child’s progress so far. They will be able to share the details of any assessment results, evaluate My Plan © targets and to jointly set new priorities for your child’s holistic education in Term 2.

If you have any questions about the key diary dates, please contact Mrs Tobin, Deputy Headteacher on deputy@abbotsleaschool.co.uk

Safeguarding and Positive Behaviour Support at Abbot’s Lea School

You will have received a letter from me – via Parentmail, as is the case with all communications this year – earlier this week, regarding our safeguarding commitment to our students. Whilst that letter was sent in response to a very concerning press report on an incident at another school, I wanted to summarise our safeguarding and positive behaviour support practices at our school and share with you escalation protocol, should anyone at all be concerned at any point about our work with the children and young people.

The letter can be found here and below is the summary of the key messages for your awareness:

http://www.abbotsleaschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Safeguarding-at-ALS-9.9.2021.pdf

To start with, my expectation as our school’s Headteacher is that every staff member working here is a positive role model and a proactive protector and advocate of children’s rights, completely focused on keeping them safe at all times.

We have robust recruitment, induction and training processes, with all staff – regardless of their role and previous work experience or training – undertaking safeguarding and Positive Behaviour Support training each year, with frequent refreshers and updates during the year.

When incidents occur – and they do occur as we have nearly 300 students with most complex needs in our society – we support them proactively and always in line with the methods of working approved.

If an incident occurs during which a student requires physical support to keep them or others safe and restrictive physical interventions (also known as restraint) is used, it will only be used as a last resort and in line with the Team Teach as our approved method of such support.

Adults involved in the incident debrief fully after it takes place and record fully what happened, who was involved and what could be done in the future to minimise the risk of the incident re-occurring.

If your child’s day at school was that difficult and there was an issue we believe you need to be alerted to – such as an incident or an accident – we will always aim to contact you before your child arrives home that afternoon.

If we are ever concerned about your child’s wellbeing or safety, we will contact you that same day. This contact will typically come directly from the Class Team, but might also come from a Key Stage Leader, or a member of the Multidisciplinary Team or our safeguarding team.

Equally, if at any point you become concerned about your child, you should always contact the Class Team in the first instant – most matters arising each day can be fully appraised by those who see your child every day and know exactly what your child’s day was truly like.

If your concerns are not resolved, please feel free to escalate them to either of my senior leaders supporting class teams:

Ms Alison Twomey, Head of Care and Safeguarding: alison.twomey@abbotsleaschool.co.uk

or

Mrs Emily Tobin, Deputy Headteacher: deputy@abbotsleaschool.co.uk

Whistleblowing

If you are ever concerned about any adults working with children behaving in a way that might be suspicious, inappropriate or unsafe, please contact me immediately and directly:

headteacher@abbotsleaschool.co.uk – this email is monitored all year round for any such safeguarding alerts and I will always respond within 24 hours of receipt.

If ever you believe that I, despite being the school’s Headteacher, am unsafe and I might pose the risk to children, you should raise your concerns without delay with the Chair of Governors, Mr Robert Lowe: robert.lowe@abbotsleaschool.co.uk.

In short – there is nobody in our school that is above the scrutiny, or indeed, above the law.

Quite the opposite: we are totally committed to safeguarding our students and keeping them safe in education and helping them keep safe in the community – we must all take this personal and collective duty seriously.

I do realise this may alarm some of you – this is not my intention. In fact, we regularly communicate on the topic of safeguarding with the students, staff and the families, including via this very platform of the Head’s Weekly Newsletter, but I felt it appropriate to capture our commitment and systems in the more formal letter in light of the aforementioned press information.

I trust this helps and reassures you at the start of this new academic year, which we hope will be happy, safe and successful for all.

School Development Plan

Our team’s plans for the coming year are captured in the School Development Plan 2021-22, the copy of which can be found here:

http://www.abbotsleaschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/School-Development-Plan-2021-22.pdf

You will note that we have a clear focus on:

• – Our Students
• – Our Team
• – Our Resources

There will be a number of projects within each of the headings and I will keep you updated periodically about our progress.

More so, I will be looking to our students, their families, the team, our partners and our governors, to continue making suggestions about how we can make our school even better!

Watch this space!

SEND Strategy Consultation

There is a reason why the above School Development Plan (or SDP for short!) is only a 1-year plan at this point.

As you will recall, we initially consulted on a 3-year plan, but in light of the Liverpool City Council currently reviewing all of the SEND provision in the city, we felt it would be more prudent to focus on the things we know we can develop this year, whilst awaiting the outcome of the consultation.

We will, as a school, actively participate in the consultation and we will advocate, in any submissions made, on behalf of the students of Abbot’s Lea School, supporting the families – present and future and continuously encouraging our Local Authority to provide a better service to those living with Autism.

You, too, can get involved and have your say, so please do consider sharing your views with the LCC, by 15 October 2021 via:

https://smartsurvey.co.uk/s/SENDsufficiency